Disney World changing Fantasyland plans

Leah Zanolla | Posted: Aug 13, 2010 | Updated: Oct 19, 2014 - 9:25:27 AM
A few weeks ago, rumors started circulating that Walt Disney World might be considering changing, and possibly even scaling back, the massive expansion of Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando. It turns out the rumors were on the right track. Speaking on the reasoning for reexamining the plan, an article in the Orlando Sentinel cites Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Tom Staggs as saying, "We took a hard look at it amongst a number of us and said, 'Can we make the appeal broader? Can we make it even better?'"

When the project was announced and plans revealed, one major criticism of the expansion was that it was too "princess-heavy." It appears that issue may be corrected during this period of revision. Staggs states, "One of the things that I thought the early design did fantastically was delivered on that princess experience. And that does tend to skew towards girls. We've kept that intact - not exactly, necessarily, the way it was presented, but that appeal is there. I think we've added some things that aren't just princess-focused, and that's a good positive."

As is customary, Disney is not revealing many details about what exact elements of the plan will be altered and to what extent, but the article suggests the immersive princess meet and greet experiences in the original designs may be changed.

In late July, DIS founder Pete Werner toured Walt Disney Imagineering in California and was told that the Pixie Hollow redesign is being scaled back to allow for more "character interaction" in a circus-themed environment where Mickey's Toontown currently stands.

While Staggs would not provide figures on how much the revisions to the master plan would affect its proposed budget, it appears elements of the expansion are still on target to debut in 2012 and 2013.